The present application relates to software development and more specifically to systems, methods, and patterns for facilitating designing software applications for use in mobile computing environments.
Software design methods for developing applications for mobile computing applications are faced with several challenges due in part to limited screen space for displaying user interfaces and limited computing resources, including memory, processor speeds, and network bandwidth limitations.
Limited screen space is a particularly limiting requirement for mobile software applications. Furthermore, mobile computing applications often run on mobile communications devices, such as cellular telephones, which often subject the user to multiple frequent distractions, including distractions from calls, text messages, changes in physical environment, and so on.
Mobile enterprise computing applications are particularly demanding, as mobile enterprise application users often must maintain connectivity with multiple computing resources and applications available via a corporate network.
Design methodologies and accompanying solutions that are generally applicable to desktop computing environments are often incompatible with mobile computing environments. As developers and project managers move their desktop applications to mobile devices, a comprehensive design approach is needed to create efficient and compelling user interfaces that account for mobile computing environment limitations and distractions.
In general, existing mobile application systems and methods facilitate designing software applications for specific mobile platforms, such as the iPhone®, Android™, Microsoft Windows Mobile®, BlackBerry®, and Symbian™ platforms. Unfortunately, existing mobile application development methodologies often fail to facilitate comprehensive design solutions suitable for a wide range of mobile platforms.